PRESCOTT, Arizona (Reuters) – An elite squad of 19 Arizona firemen killed in the worst U.S. wildland firefighting tragedy in 80 years apparently was outflanked and engulfed by wind-whipped flames in seconds, before some could scramble into cocoon-like personal shelters.

Details of Sunday’s deaths of all but one member of the specially trained, 20-man Granite Mountain Hotshots were vague a day after they perished in a blaze that destroyed scores of homes and forced the evacuation of two towns in central Arizona.

PRESCOTT, Arizona (Reuters) – Fire investigators in central Arizona launched a probe on Monday into how wind-driven flames closed in on and killed 19 specially trained firemen in a tragedy that marked the greatest loss of life among firefighters in a U.S. wildland blaze in 80 years.

The precise circumstances surrounding Sunday’s deaths of all but one of a 20-member elite “hotshots” firefighting team remained unclear a day after they perished while battling a blaze that has destroyed scores of homes and forced the evacuation of two towns.

PRESCOTT, Arizona (Reuters) – Nineteen elite firefighters were killed in a raging Arizona wildfire stoked by record heat and high winds, marking the greatest loss of life among firefighters from a single U.S. wildland blaze in 80 years.

The Prescott, Arizona, Fire Department crew was killed on Sunday when a fast-moving wildfire they were battling trapped them near Yarnell, a town about 80 miles (128 km) northwest of Phoenix.

PHOENIX (Reuters) – Nineteen firefighters from an elite team in Arizona were killed on Sunday while battling a fast-moving wildfire that destroyed scores of homes and forced the evacuation of two small towns northwest of Phoenix, the state capital, authorities said.

The tragedy ranked as the greatest loss of life among firefighters from a single wildland blaze in the United States in 80 years, since 29 men died battling the Griffith Park fire of 1933 in Los Angeles, according to National Fire Protection Association records.

PHOENIX (Reuters) – A dangerous, record-breaking heat wave in the western United States contributed to the death of a Nevada resident and sent scores of people to hospitals with heat-related illnesses.

The scorching heat, caused by a dome of hot air trapped by a high pressure ridge, pushed the mercury above 100 F (38 C) in parts of California, Arizona, Idaho, Colorado, Nevada and Utah and Texas.

PHOENIX, June 30 (Reuters) – A dangerous, record-breaking
heat wave in the western United States contributed to the death
of a Nevada resident and sent scores of people to hospitals with
heat-related illnesses.

The scorching heat, caused by a dome of hot air trapped by a
high pressure ridge, pushed the mercury above 100 F (38 C) in
parts of California, Arizona, Idaho, Colorado, Nevada and Utah
and Texas.

PHOENIX (Reuters) – For undocumented immigrants who fear arrest each day they go to work in Arizona, the passage on Thursday of a landmark U.S. Senate immigration bill has renewed hope they may one day emerge from the shadows – but that dream might be short lived given the bill’s slim chances of passing the House of Representatives.

“It’s incredible … It means that I won’t have to be afraid of being arrested and jailed when I go to the shop to buy food,” said Guatemalan warehouseman Samuel Roldan, whose wife, Gladys, was picked up by police in Phoenix and deported to the Central American country three years ago.

, June 23 (Reuters) – Daredevil
Nik Wallenda completed a high-wire walk on a 2-inch (5-cm) steel
cable over a section of the Grand Canyon on Sunday, greeted by
wild cheers after his hair-raising stunt.

Wallenda, the self-described “King of the High Wire,” took
22 minutes and 54 seconds to walk 1,400 feet (427 metres) across
the crimson-hued canyon with just the distant ribbon of the
Little Colorado River beneath him. The event was broadcast live
around the world.

LITTLE COLORADO RIVER, Arizona (Reuters) – Daredevil Nik Wallenda, confident but with his heart pounding, will take a step onto a high wire stretched taut over the yawning chasm of the Grand Canyon on Sunday in a death-defying crossing that will be broadcast live around the world.

“Sunday is go time, and that’s when the adrenaline kicks in and … before you know it, it’s all over,” Wallenda, smiling and looking relaxed in jeans and a T-shirt, told reporters at a news conference before the challenge.

, June 21 (Reuters) – When daredevil Nik
Wallenda caught sight of the taut cable stretched over the
yawning chasm of the Grand Canyon for the first time on Friday,
his reaction ahead his death-defying high-wire crossing on
Sunday was pure glee.

“It was funny, I couldn’t get the grin off my face. My
playground’s there and it’s almost set up. It looks incredible,”
Wallenda, looking relaxed in jeans and a blue T-shirt, told
reporters at a news conference in Flagstaff, in northern
Arizona.

About Tim

"I cover immigration and southwest border issues for Reuters. I am based in Phoenix and have been in my current role since 2006. I previously covered northern Mexico and worked as a general news reporter in Central America."